While doing research for my sustainability article I actually found that Disney, as a company, has been doing a lot to become more environmentally friendly.
Environmental Goals for 2030
In December of 2020, The Walt Disney Company announced it’s environmental goals for 2030. According to the company’s website they will be focusing on five main areas: greenhouse gas emissions, water waste, materials, and sustainable design. While there are many goals and steps the company announced, I believe reducing the company’s plastics footprint across all business, achieving zero waste to landfills, and using sustainable sourced products in multiple areas are some of the most important. Bob Chapek, CEO of the company, stated during the announcement, “these goals focus on key areas of our business where we believe we can have a significant, lasting impact and make a positive difference in protecting our planet.” Some of these changes for reducing the plastic footprint are already taking place. On April 20th, the company released its first look at plastic free packaging for classic dolls the dolls will now come in a reusable cardboard box.
What Disney Already Has in Place
While researching I found that all hotels on property are Green Lodging Certified. Not really knowing what that meant or if it was true, I did a little searching and found it is in fact true all Walt Disney World hotels are certified. Exact criteria varies by state, but what they generally look for in a hotel or resort is commitment to environmentally-friendly practices like conserving natural resources, reduce waste, and lower greenhouse gases. There are four levels of the certification the more a hotel or resorts does the more points it gets and the higher level it becomes. Now all of the hotels on property are level one, but I imagine with the new goals set for 2030 they aim to be around level three or four.
Garden Grill is a restaurant at Epcot that grows it’s products to serve to guests. You are even able to take a tour of the facility on the Living With the Land ride. On the ride you will see all the different fruits, vegetables, flowers, and even fish that they raise and grow.
With The Walt Disney Company working towards becoming more and more environmentally friendly this can have influence on other theme parks around the world. I personally cannot wait to see all of the new changes and new innovation to come from The Walt Disney Company.